I have always thought that it's a sign that South Asians have truly arrived in the U.S. when we make appearances in ALL parts of the news, not just the international pages about goings-on in the subcontinent. Our showing up in the business pages, the government pages, the sports pages - and yes, the crime pages, are all part of our becoming part of the American landscape.
In recent days, we have had our share of appearances in the crime pages - Man accused in "abortion cocktail" case disappears; and Man accused of setting fire that kills pregnant daughter, son-in-law and grandson- are two examples.
In business, one of the biggest stories today is the trouble facing Citigroup, and the new CEO brought in to fix it, Vikram Pandit.
In government, yesterday was the inauguration of Bobby Jindal as governor of Louisiana.
For sports, however, I didn't have anything till I was reminded that Daniel Chopra had one this year's opening tournament of the season on the PGA Tour, the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Hawaii.
From AP's coverage of the victory by Chopra, a 25-year-old Swede whose father is in Indian:
The token that Daniel Chopra uses to mark his ball on the green was given to him a few years ago in Japan with an inscription that reads, "Fortune favors the brave."
His wild playoff victory Sunday in the Mercedes-Benz Championship was more about perseverance.
And that ball mark sure didn't do any favors for Steve Stricker.
After twice watching a blade of grass keep the winning putt from falling into the cup, Chopra won the season-opening event on the PGA Tour when Stricker failed to get up-and-down for birdie on the fourth extra hole.
"It's the best final round I've ever played to win a tournament," Chopra said after closing with a 7-under 66 without a bogey on a day of sunshine long overdue on the west coast of Maui.
He loved Kapalua from the minute he got here, and despite all those times watching the tournament on TV and playing the Plantation Course on a video game, none of that prepared the 34-year-old Swede for the final two hours.
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Chopra, who only qualified for this winners-only tournament with his first PGA Tour victory in the second-to-last event of last year, earned $1.1 million and a Mercedes-Benz sports car. And his victory earned him his first trip to the Masters.
More on Chopra, who was raised in India from the age of seven and won the All-India Junior Golf Championship at 14, at his official site | Wikipedia entry | PGA Tour page.
SAJAforum coverage of golf:
- Vijay Singh wins FedEx Cup and $10 million (Dec. 15, 2008)
- Vijay Singh wins two tournaments in a row (Sept. 1, 2008)
- Vijay Singh wins after a long stretch (Aug. 4, 2008)
- Desi Spotting at the Masters (April 11, 2008)
- Golf Digest apologizes for depiction of Guru Arjun Dev (June 4, 2008)
- Daniel Chopra wins season-opener on PGA Tour (Jan. 15, 2008)
